Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

[Woody Woodpecker laughter]

Woodpecker damage to your home is no laughing matter.

As a rule woodpeckers excavate cavities in dead trees called snags, which they live in. The exception is when they mistake dark colored, or cedar house siding, for a snag and end up leaving a trail of destruction.

And it looks like cannon balls have been shot through the house. Maybe two or three; and we’ve seen some with fifteen, sixteen holes.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist. He says woodpecker damage occurs most often in urban and suburban areas where the dead wood has been removed.

What we recommend people to do with problems with woodpeckers is to put a nest box. If you’re familiar with a bluebird box, it’s just a larger version of that custom made for woodpeckers.

Visit passporttotexas.org for a link to free blueprints to make your own woodpecker nest box.

People can build this in a couple of hours on the weekend, and put it up on the side of the house, and in all cases that we’ve done this – it’s worked. And the woodpecker stops chiseling on the home, and goes to this next box, and is very content.

That’s our show for today… Remember: Life’s Better Outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

In the fall of 2002, Krista Allen was a novice to the outdoors.

I was definitely a girly girl and my entire life, I was always looking for a sport and really never found anything that I enjoyed or really stuck too.

A friend at work told Allen about the Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshops offered by Texas Parks and Wildlife; she signed up with the intention to learn how to backpack.

I took a backpacking class, outdoor survival, land navigation – which was compass and map, and camping and I came away feeling so empowered. And I knew I had a really good, solid knowledge base to work from.

Her first workshop sparked Krista’s interest in the outdoors. Since then she’s taken the skills she learned and has turned them into a passion for the outdoors.

Once you start getting into the outdoors and noticing your surroundings, there’s just all sorts of things that may touch off your curiosity.

Allen also wanted to give back.

Government Canyon [in San Antonio] is one the biggest local parks and I wanted to become familiar with that. And as it opened up I volunteered to be on the trail patrol.

To find out more information about the Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshops, visit passporttotexas.org

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Kate Lipinski… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

The outdoors can be an intimidating place to learn new skills, especially for women. Texas Parks and Wildlife is trying to change that by offering skills workshops specifically for women.

Ashley Mathews, coordinator of the Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshops, explains the importance of women having experiences outdoors.

It’s important on a number of levels for women to connect with the outdoors either through a solely environmental reason or through outdoor recreation. On a personal level, it’s very rejuvenating to our spirits. Additionally, we tend to be rearing the next generation of individuals who are going to care for our earth and care for our resources and find some value in them. So we have to help those younger children find value and find entertainment and find memories, so they have an appreciation for Texas.

Mathews says women gain more than camping skills at workshops.

It’s a huge self-esteem boost, self-confidence boost. We hear over and over again, I’ve had women tell me I applied for a job that I never thought I could get because I did this Becoming an Outdoors Woman activity and I could do it and so I thought, well I can do these other things too.

Visit passporttotexas.org for more information on the Becoming and Outdoors Woman program.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Kate Lipinski.. we receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

You are days away from the best outdoor festival around – Texas Parks and Wildlife Expo, at Parks and Wildlife headquarters in Austin.

Expo is held the first weekend in October, held from nine to five and it’s free.

Expo Director, Ernie Gammage, says attendees are bound to find an outdoor activity to capture their imaginations.

The idea is to come to Expo, and find your passion: What are those things that really seem to be fun to you, and then go out and explore them.

Your outdoor adventures needn’t end with Expo.

At almost every activity, a visitor can pick up what we call the 101 Guides, which is a very basic little brochure about that next step. Are there fishing clubs? Are there magazines? Where can I find information on the web or in the library? Where are places to go? And you can pick all of that up at Expo.

Bring the family, but leave skateboards, bikes, Rollerblades and your pet at home. Expo is best experienced on foot, and without Fido.

If you and your family are looking for something to do that can open a whole new world of the outdoors and togetherness for you – come on down to the Expo.

Find links to Expo information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today – Remember: Life’s Better Outside — For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Fragmentation of old growth forests in the southeastern US and Texas, prime ivory billed woodpecker habitat, may have contributed to the species’ “extinction.” Yet, reports in 2005 said that after nearly 60 years in oblivion, the woodpecker had been rediscovered in Arkansas.

We’ve been getting a lot of calls since that announcement in oh-five, from people in east Texas that are wondering why there’s all this hoopla over ivory bills, because they’ve had them in their yard for years.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist with Parks and Wildlife. While the ivory billed woodpecker is the largest woodpecker north of Mexico…

We didn’t do a very good job telling people there are two big woodpeckers. And the other one is a common bird in the eastern third of Texas, and that is the pileated Woodpecker.

That’s the bird people have spotted, said Shackleford. It’s an easy mistake to make, too, as the woodpeckers are similar in size and appearance.

They’re black, white and they have some red on them. But the big difference between the two, when they’re perched on the tree, the ivory billed has a white backpack. So, the folded wings give it the look like it’s carrying a white backpack. Whereas in the pileated, there’s no white. It’s just continuously dark on the back.

Log onto passporttotexas.org for links to more information about the ivory billed woodpecker, and what to do if you think you’ve seen one.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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